As the countdown to the People’s United Party (PUP) Belize City municipal convention ticks down, with just under two weeks remaining before the August 30 vote, campaign operations have shifted to hyper-local, retail politics: candidates and their teams are now working their way through neighborhood doorsteps and dialing through delegate contact lists one conversation at a time. More than 700 registered PUP delegates will cast ballots to select the party’s final municipal slate, and sitting Belize City Councilor Kaya Cattouse says her campaign has been fully mobilized since gaining access to the official delegate list roughly one week ago.
In a press interview alongside her campaign trail activities, Cattouse addressed one of the race’s most prominent controversies: the exclusion of incumbent fellow councilor Evan Thompson from the list of eligible candidates. Cattouse described the decision to bar Thompson from contesting the convention as deeply unfortunate, but framed the outcome as an expected reality of political life. She also clarified that she has prioritized her own campaign efforts over investigating the root causes of Thompson’s rejection.
“Definitely have been on the ground from we got the delegate list about a week ago. We’ve been on the ground trying to reach out to all the delegates and preparing for August thirtieth,” Cattouse told reporters. When asked to share her reaction to Thompson being barred from running, she responded: “Definitely unfortunate. But sometimes that is the nature of politics, and you must move on.” Pressed on whether she knew what led party leadership to reject Thompson’s candidacy, Cattouse added: “I’m not necessarily sure. I haven’t been able to delve so much into his issues. I’ve directly dealing with, with selling myself and selling the team that we have on the ground.”
To date, the PUP has not released a public explanation for why it rejected the sitting councilor’s candidacy application. Party Secretary General Collet Montejo has only confirmed that the final decision was made jointly by the party’s Vetting Committee and National Campaign Committee. This report is adapted from a transcript of an evening television newscast, with all direct quotes retained and transcribed accurately per standard formatting rules.